Clean comedian Ralph Harris plays at Jr.'s Last Laugh

SEE IT

Ralph Harris will perform today through Saturday at Jr.'s Last Laugh, 1402 State St. Shows are at 6:30 p.m. today, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $18 for tonight; $20 on Friday/Saturday. Call 461-0911.

That's just a modest way of saying he's blowing up big. Harris was part of the "Clean Guys of Comedy" event that was broadcast to more than 650 theaters nationally, including Erie's Tinseltown, in September.

The actor and comedian -- who's more of a storyteller than punch-line machine -- believes families are clamoring for humor that can touch on adult topics without wallowing in the gutter.

"I absolutely think that's what people are yearning for," Harris said by phone. "I've been what I call fighting the good fight since the beginning of my career."

His stand-up career, ironically, was inspired by a comedian who frequently does work raw -- Eddie Murphy. He first saw him on "Saturday Night Live."

"I loved 'Little Rascals.' I stayed up to watch and saw him do Buckwheat, and it was all over. It was like, 'I want to do that.' And then I followed him everywhere. In college, my whole bedroom was full of clippings of Eddie Murphy. I was trying to focus on what I knew I wanted to do."

At his first stand-up gigs, Harris killed -- because he did Murphy's routines.

"I didn't know you couldn't do other people's material. I had no idea," Harris said. "I'm a kid from the streets in Philly with a dream. I had no idea what the protocol was until my buddy Rocky Wilson pulled me aside and said, 'Man, you can't do that. You got to get your own stuff. Talk about your life.'"

He began talking about growing up in a house with four kids, telling stories about sisters who stole his gum.

"Corny stuff, but it was what I knew," Harris said.

Years later, he's a polished pro who spins stories about relationship woes and how women control guys. (He's disturbingly informed about drapery.)

"I look at Jim Gaffigan and the amount of jokes he tells in about five minutes. I couldn't remember that many jokes to save my life," Harris said. "But I tell a story, I can guarantee you're going to laugh just as much."

In addition to stand-up, Harris has done plenty of acting. He starred in the 1994-95 ABC sitcom "On Our Own" and appeared on "Seinfeld" and "In Living Color." He's working with Rain Pryor (Richard Pryor's daughter) on bringing "Manish Boy," a play about his life, to off-Broadway theaters.

For Harris, nothing beat appearing in "Dreamgirls" with his onetime idol, and now fellow comedian, Murphy. He's attended parties at Murphy's house to watch fights and the Super Bowl.

"Not the old-school parties of the '80s but come in, have a nice bite to eat," Harris said.

"And to actually work in a room where I'm walking up to him on the stage? 'Hey, man.' 'Hey Ralph.' The guy you started (in comedy) because of, to hear him say your name, it's like, 'I gotta call my mom and tell her Eddie said, 'Hi, Ralph.""

He's met Bill Cosby, too, as well as Chris Rock, Katt Williams, Jim Norton and others, who tell him to stay the course. Clean may not be in, but it's him.

"They appreciate the fact I work clean," Harris said. "They say, 'Man, don't change. Do what you're doing. It will ring in people's ears that you're doing something significant. They just got to fall in.'"

SEE IT

Ralph Harris will perform today through Saturday at Jr.'s Last Laugh, 1402 State St. Shows are at 6:30 p.m. today, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $18 for tonight; $20 on Friday/Saturday. Call 461-0911.